A Lot of Flags, 1 War - 5/26/1965

War has become the response to worldwide and domestic conflicts for centuries. The Vietnam War being of the very brutal this century. For Vietnam, eight hundred troops departed on this particular day May 26, 1965. And it is also on this day that New Zealand announced that it will send an artillery battalion. In the kind of an insignificant aviation's detachment alongside an engineer activity team, the government had first sent troops to Vietnam in 1964. By this time, they were raising their dedication to the war with the dispatch of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR).

As the years progressed worlAustralian presence in Vietnam continued to rise. By forming the First Australian Task Force in 1966, its troop strength increased. The task force created its base of operations near Ba Ria from the Phuoc Toy province. Contained inside the task force were just two battalions of infantry, a helicopter squadron, sign forces, a medium tank squadron, engineer drives, along with other support. By 1969, the army presence in Vietnam totaled to about employees.
New Zealand also started to maximize its own Presence. They delivered a little engineer detachment however the artillery battery was sent by them in July. The New Zealand contingent was put under the control of the First Australian Task Force, as time progressed, and might rise to men. The Free World Military Forces, had been the company under which Australian contingents and the New Zealand were part of.

By ensuring the support of different countries, President Johnson hoped to make an international agreement of his own policies. Back in 1970, the United States began to reduce the troop commitment in South Vietnam. Soon afterwards Australia and New Zealand did exactly the same, in true ally mode.